Cool spot in the sun

“I use ribbons of color—a sort of running stitch—to unify the border,” says designer Gabriela Yariv in her Santa Monica garden. Pink Echeveria ‘Afterglow’ dots the carpet of gray-blue Dymondia margaretae, repeating the hues of the larger plants.

Golden bamboo (Phyllo­stachys aurea) creates a soft green backdrop that doesn’t compete with the sculptural plants in this sunny Santa Monica border.

For an accent: a bronze-tinged ‘Sundowner’ phormium is striking beside an icy blue Agave attenuata ‘Nova’.

Design: Gabriela Yariv Landscape Design (310/458-7250)